Protective clothing means



Oct. 12, 1965 A. LEWIS PROTECTIVE CLOTHING MEAN Filed NOV. 7, 1962 INVENTOR.

ANNABELL LEWIS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,210,773 PROTECTIVE CLOTHING MEANS Annabell Lewis, 1414 S. Chadwick St.,

Philadelphia 46, Pa. Filed Nov. 7, 1962, Ser. No. 235,944 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-48) The invention relates to protective clothing means, and more particularly, to means for being worn by a person for protecting the body of the wearer and allowing the wearer to handle heated objects with a maximum of facility.

Heretofore, clothing means have been provided for protecting the hands and body of a wearer. However, such devices do not provide hand protectors which are easily accessible to the wearer and allow a high degree of freedom to the hands when the protectors are used.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the invention to provide a new and improved protective clothing means which is readily accessible to the wearer and provides a minimum of restriction in the activities of the wearer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and highly useful protective clothing means which may easily and inexpensively be produced and provides a desirable appearance.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved protective clothing means especially useful for protecting the hands in the handling of hot objects and which is durable and adaptable to the requirements of users having different body sizes.

The above objects, as well as many other objects of the invention, are achieved by providing a protective clothing means including a waist band for being received about the waist of a person, securing means for retaining the waist band in position about the person, and covering means for protecting the hands of a person, elastically secured with the waist band.

The covering means comprises a pair of units for respectively receiving the left and right hands of the wearer which are separately connected by elastic bands secured with the waist band in spaced relationship for positioning the hand cove-ring units along the sides of the wearer.

In one form, the means for securing the covering units may be provided by a unitary elastic band having its ends secured respectively with the units and its intermediate portion extending and secured along the waist band. The intermediate portion of the elastic band is provided with a retaining loop at its center passing through the waist band and forms a pair of expandable loops on opposite sides of the center of the elastic band along the waist band for providing extension of the hand covering units.

The hand covering units are each comprised of a flexihly insulating material and each has an opening for receiving the-rein and protecting the hand of the person wearing the clothing means especially in the handling of hot objects.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will become more apparent as the following detailed description of the invention is read in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a protecting clothing article embodying the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a modified form of the protective clothing article shown in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged inverted plan view of the article shown in FIGURE 2 with portions broken away, and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing in detail the central portion of the waist band of the article shown in FIGURE 2.

Like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views.

FIGURE 1 discloses a protecting clothing means 10 embodying the invention in the form of an apron 12 comprising a waist band 14 having a central portion 16 which is secured with the top 18 of a sheet of material 20 for protecting the front lower portion of a wearer in the conventional manner. The ends 22, 24 of the waist band 16 provide strings for being tied together to secure the clothing means 10 in position about the body of the wearer. A pair of hand covering unit-s 26, 27 are each respectively secured to the end of an elastic band 28, 30 which has its other end secured at the sides 32, 34 of the waist band 16 adjoining the edges 36, 38 of the material 20. With this connection, the hand covering units 26, 27 depend from the waist band 16 in spaced relationship along the edges 36, 38 of the material 20 and along the corresponding right and left sides of the wearer of the article 10.

The length of the elastic bands 28, 30 in their unextended condition is sufficiently short to place the units 26, 27 easily within the reach of the hands of the wearer. The units 26, 27 are each provided with an opening 40, 42 at its top for receiving therewithin the respective hand of the wearer of the article 10. The units 26, 27 are made of a material suitable for protecting the hands of the wearer in handling objects which may be hot. The material of the units 26, 27 is also flexible so that the wearer may easily grasp and manipulate such articles. When the article 10 is used for household purposes, then the material of the units 26, 27 may be made of a heavy quilted fabric, whereas for commercial use, the units 26, 27 may be made of an asbestos fabric providing greater temperature insulation for handling objects at higher temperatures The elastic bands 28, 30 allow the unrestricted extension of the hands of the wearer after being received within the units 26, 27, by the stretching of the elastic bands 28, 30. The use of the elastic bands 28, 30 for securing the units 26, 27 with the waistband 16 of the article 10, thus places the units 26, 27 within easy reach of the hands of the wearer, while after receiving the hands in the units 26, 27, the wearer may easily extend his hands beyond the unstretched lengths of the units 26, 27 from the waist band 16 of the article 10. By this means, when the units 26, 27 must be rapidly placed over the hands, they can be reached quickly and without fumbling, thereby affording protection when quick action in handling a hot object is required by the wearer.

The sheet 20 may also be made of a heat resistant or asbestos material when the wearer requires protection for his body and the device 10 may also be provided with an upper portion of material complementing the lower portion protecting the upper part of the body of the wearer.

Refer to FIGURES 2, 3 and 4 which disclose a protective clothing means 44 which is a modification of the protective clothing means 10. The means 44 comprises a waist band 46 with a stiffened cloth waist band 48 which may be covered by a material 50 passing thereabout and sewn along the seams 52 and 55 at the top and bottom edges of the band 48. The covering material 50 may be imprinted with designs or other ornamental features desired for the clothing means 44, as well as serving the purpose of enclosing the intermediate portion 53 of the unitary elastic band 54. The ends 56, 58 of the waist band 46 may have strings 60, 62 secured therewith for being tied together about the Waist of the wearer for positioning the waist band 46 about the front waist of the wearer.

A pair of hand covering units 64, 66 of the article 44, which may be similar to the units 26, 27 of the article 10, are each respectively secured to the opposite ends 68, 70 of the elastic band 54.

Each of the ends 68, 70 of the elastic band 54 passes through an opening 72, 74 in the front surface 76 of the material 50 and through the stiffened band 48, each respectively positioned towards the opposite ends 56, 58 of the band 46. After passing through the opening 72, the band 54 passes along the band 46 proximate its rear surface 78 towards the end 58 (see FIGURE 3). After the band 54 passes through the center region 80 of the band 46, it freely passes through a loop of material 82 secured with the band 46, after which it extends in the reverse direction and passes through the openings 84, 86 in the band 46 positioned on each side of its center 80. This causes the center of the elastic band 54 to be secured at the center region with the waist band member 46. After passing through the opening 86, the band again extends in the direction toward the end 56 of the band 46 until its direction is reversed by freely passing through the loop of material 88 which is secured with the band 46. With its direction reversed, the band 54 extends along the back surface 78 of the band 46 toward the end 58 of the band 46 until it passes through the opening 74 and has its end 70 attached to the covering unit 66. The material 50 which extends about the band 46 also covers and conceals within it the intermediate portion 53 of the elastic band 54, without in any way interfering with the extension and contraction of the elastic band 54 through the loops in material 82 and 88 along the back surface 78 of the stiff band portion 48.

With the arrangement disclosed, the hand covering units 64, 66 may be positioned by the elastic member in its unextended condition proximate to the ends 56, 58 of the waist band 46 of the protective clothing means 44, while allowing sufficient expansion of the units 46, 66 from the band 46 as required by the user with the hands received within the units 64, 66.

This is evident from the great length of the elastic band 56 provided by the clothing means 44 in which the band is extended in reverse directions by freely passing through the loops of material 82, 88. The pasasge of the central portion of the band 54 through the centrally positioned longitudinally displaced openings 84, 86 in the band member 46 also provides a central attachment to the waist band 46 from which left and right hand portions of the elastic band 54 are respectively individually extended with the extension of the corresponding hands within the hand covering units 64, 66.

The simplicity of construction, the ease and low cost of manufacturing the improved protective clothing means and 44, as well as the high degree of utility provided by the disclosed structures, are among the many advantages thereof.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention may find wide application with appropriate modification to meet the individual design circumstances, but without substantial departure from the essence of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1, Protective clothing means comprising a waist band for being received about the waist of a person having securing means for retaining said band about said person, a pair of hand covering means for protecting the hands of said person, and an elastic band having first and second ends secured respectively with said hand covering means and intermediate portion extending and secured along said waist band, said first and second ends of said elastic band extended from said waist band in spaced relationship for positioning said covering means along the sides of said person for receiving the left and right hands of said person, the intermediate portion of said elastic band being provided with a retaining loop at its center passing through said waist band and provides a pair of expandable loops on opposite sides of the center of said elastic band for providing extension of said covering means, said covering means being positioned proximate said waist band by said elastic band in its unextended condition for receiving the hands of said persons and said covering means may be extended from said waist band by the extension of said elastic band including expansion of the loops of the intermediate portion of said elastic band, said hand covering means each being comprised of a flexible heat insulating material and each having an opening for receiving therein and protecting a hand of said person for the handling of hot objects.

2. Protective clothing means having a waist portion for being received about the waist of a person and securing means for retaining said waist portion about said person, first and second hand covering means for protecting the hands of said person, a first elastic band having a first end secured with said first hand covering means and a second end secured with the waist portion of said clothing means, and a second elastic band having a first end secured with said second hand covering means and a second end secured with the waist portion of said clothing means, said first and second elastic bands when in their unextended condition being of a length for retaining said covering means proximate said waist portion for respectively receiving the hands of said person at less than arms length and allowing the extension of said elastic bands for extending said covering means from said waist portion to the arms length of said person.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,240,728 9/17 Jordan 2--158 1,361,565 12/20 Christy 2-160 2,306,062 12/42 Katz 220 2,410,639 11/46 Dorcey 248 2,617,103 11/52 Westgarth 248 FOREIGN PATENTS 246,241 9/47 Switzerland.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

THOMAS J. HICKEY, DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY,

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiners. 

1. PROTECTIVE CLOTHING MEANS COMPRISING A WAIST BAND FOR BEING RECEIVED ABOUT THE WAIST OF A PERSON HAVING SECURING MEANS FOR RETAINING SAID BAND ABOUT SAID PERSON, A PAIR OF HAND COVERING MEANS FOR PROTECTING THE HANDS OF SAID PERSON, AND AN ELASTIC BAND HAVING FIRST AND SECOND ENDS SECURED RESPECTIVELY WITH SAID HAND COVERING MEANS AND INTERMEDIATE PORTION EXTENDING AND SECURED ALONG SAID WAIST BAND, SAID FIRST AND SECOND ENDS OF SAID ELASTIC BAND EXTENDED FRM SAID WAIST BAND IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP FOR POSITIONING SAID COVERING MEANS ALONG THE SIDES OF SAID PERSON FOR RECEIVING THE LEF AND RIGHT HANDS OF SAID PERSON, THE INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF SAID ELASTIC BAND BEING PROVIDED WITH A RETAINING LOOP AT ITS CENTER PASSING THROUGH SAID WAIST BAND AND PROVIDES A PAIR OF EXPANDABLE LOOPS ON OPPOSISTE SIDES OF THE CENTER OF SAID ELASTICBAND FOR PROVIDING EXTENSION OF SAID COVERING MEANS, SAID COVERING MEANS BEING POSITIONED PROXIMATE SAID WAIST BAND BY SAID ELASTIC BAND IN ITS UNEXTENDED CONDITION FOR RECEIVING THE HANDS OF SAID PERSONS AND SAID COVERING MEANS MAY BE EXTENDED FROM SAID WAIST BAND BY THE EXTENSION OF SAID ELASTIC BAND INCLUDING EXPANSION OF THE LOOPS OF THE INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF AID ELASTIC BAND, SAID HAND COVERING MEANS EACH BEING COMPRISED OF A FLEXIBLE HEAT INSULATING MATERIAL AND EACH HAVING AN OPENING FOR RECEIVING THEREIN AND PROTECTING A HAND OF SAID PERSON FOR THE HANDLING OF HOT OBJECTS. 